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Unformatted text preview: The Earth as photographed by astronauts on a Moon mission. Space-Age technology enables us to visualize the scope of the planet that sustains usits possibilities and limitations. Today, China is the most populous nation and India is second. This situation is likely still to prevail 50 years from now. For some, it is a surprise that the U.S.A. is third most populous (although far behind China and India). Part of the population growth in the U.S.A. is due to births, but much of it is due to influx of immigrants. Regarding population, Indonesia is #4 and Brazil is #5. The West is a civilization in which member nations share a common technological society, life style, and assumptions and expectations (about the educational opportunity system, for example). To be a unified civilization does not require that all countries speak the same language. Islam stands not only for a religious faith, but also for the unified set of cultural values of another civilization. India is mixed; Muslims are an important minority in that country. Once called the Union of the Soviet Sot Republics (USSR), Russia and neighboring countries share a common culture for which the Orthodox Church is a unifying symbol. Latin America comprises yet another distinctive civilization. In this classification of civilizations, the Hindu (majority population in India) and Buddhist are yet other religions that are sufficiently influential to dominate the culture.are yet other religions that are sufficiently influential to dominate the culture....
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